Coin

Art Historical Context

This modest copper coin, dating to the probably 8th century, a tangible window into the vibrant world of early Islamic civilization. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Islamic Art department and acquired through the Rogers Fund in 193, it exemplifies the numismatic artistry of the era, when coins served not just as currency but as bearers of cultural and religious identity. In the 8th century during the height of the Umayyad and early Abbasid caliphates copper coins like this one—often smaller denominations called *fulus*—circulated widely across an expanding empire from the Iberian P...